How to guarantee admission into the college of your choice – in 3 simple steps

Now more than ever, it’s hard to get into a decent school. Admissions committees are flooded with applications from all over the world – a large percentage of them have an exemplary academic record, hundreds of hours of community service, participation in countless extracurricular activities, and letters of recommendation that just can’t be ignored.

But don’t let that discourage you. Sure, the admissions committee at the school you’d like to attend looks at these things. But what they’re really looking at is how likely you are to do well – both at their school and once you graduate. Keep in mind that universities thrive on the success of their alumni – both in terms of reputation and their donations. So to remove any and all doubt about your performance and guarantee that you get accepted into your alma-mater-to-be, there are 3 steps you can take. And here they are:

1. Show that you really want to attend that school
2. Show that you know what you want to study (taking tough courses help)
3. Show that you can do the work

Let’s tackle them one at a time. How do you show the admissions committee that you are serious about attending that school and not just wanting to see if you get in or, worse yet, having it as one of your safety schools? The obvious answer is by actually attending that school. What do I mean? Just register for a couple of courses. If you live within commuting distance of the school, you can attend class just like everybody else. If your school of choice is in another city or state, just sign up for a couple of their courses online. There are very few colleges nowadays that don’t offer online courses. Now the courses in which you will be enrolling will not count towards your credits. What?! Why would I do that? It’s simple, really – you are showing the admissions committee when you do apply that you are serious about attending this school.

So do I just take any courses? No. Take a couple of courses that you’re interested in. Two courses is a good start but I recommend you successfully complete 3 before you apply. And I don’t mean taking “Art of Walking” or “Queer Musicology” (yes, these are real courses you can take). If you’re interested in Psychology, take the hardest Psychology courses they have. If you’re interested in Pre-Med, see if they offer undergraduate courses that are also taught at the med school.

If you really want to impress them, take one course that will serve as a prerequisite for another course. Then take a more advanced course that has the second course you just took as a prerequisite.

And the last point. Although this should be pretty obvious – do well in these courses. This means get at least a B+ or better. Shoot for the A but get a B+ at least. If you can’t do well in their introductory coursework, you will have ended up shooting yourself in the foot. That’s the risk to taking this approach.

Just think about it, if you sat on the admissions committee and see a student that enrolls in not-for-credit courses, concentrated in one area and the student does well in them, why wouldn’t you admit them?

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions on this approach.

Oh, yes, I almost forgot - you’re welcome.

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